Oregon

OREGON. The name of a territory of the United States of America. This
territory was established by the act of congress of August 14, 1848; and
this act is the fundamental law of the territory.
2.-Sect. 2. The executive power and authority in and over said
territory of Oregon shall be vested in a governor who shall hold his office
for four years, and until his successors shall be appointed and qualified,
unless sooner removed by the president of the United States. The governor
shall reside within said territory, shall be commander-in-chief of the
militia thereof, shall perform the duties and receive the emoluments of
superintendent of Indian affairs; he may grant pardons and respites for
offences against the laws of said territory, and reprieves for offences
against the laws of the United States until the decision of the president
can be made thereon; he shall commission all officers who shall be appointed
to office under the laws of the said territory, where, by law, such
commissions shall be required, and shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed.
3.-Sect. 3. There shall be a secretary of said territory, who shall
reside therein, and hold his office for five years, unless sooner removed by
the president of the United States; he shall record and preserve all the
laws and proceedings of the legislative assembly hereinafter constituted,
and all the acts and proceedings of the governor in his executive
department; he shall transmit one copy of the laws and journals of the
legislative assembly within thirty days after the end of each session, and
one copy of the executive proceedings and official correspondence, semi-
annually, on the first days of January and July, in each year, to the
president of the United States, and two copies of the laws to the president
of the senate and to the speaker of the house of representatives for the use
of congress. And in case of the death, removal, resignation, or absence of
the governor from the territory, the secretary shall be, and he is hereby,
authorized and required to execute and perform all the powers and duties of
the governor during such vacancy or absence, or until another governor shall
be duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy.
4.-Sect. 4. The legislative power and authority of said territory
shall be vested in a legislative assembly. The legislative assembly shall
consist of a council and house of representatives. The council shall consist
of nine members, having the qualifications of voters as hereinafter
prescribed, whose term of service shall continue three years. Immediately
after they shall be assembled, in consequence of the first election, they
shall be divided as equally as may be into, three classes. The seats. of the
members of council of the first. class shall be vacated at the expiration of
the first year; of the second class at the expiration of the second year;
and of the third class at the expiration of the third year, so that one-
third may be chosen every year, and if vacancies happen by resignation or
otherwise, the same shall be filled at the next ensuing election. The house
of representatives shall, at its first session, consist of eighteen members,
possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for members of the council,
and whose term of service shall continue one year. The number of
representatives may be increased by the legislative assembly from time to
time, in proportion to the increase of qualified voters: Provided, That the
whole number shall never exceed thirty. An apportionment shall be made, as
nearly equal as practicable, among the several counties or districts, for
the election of the council and representatives, giving to each section of
the territory representation in the ratio of its qualified voters, as nearly
as may be. And the members of the council and of the house of
representatives shall reside in and be inhabitants of the district, or
county or counties, for which they may be elected respectively. Previous to
the first election, the governor shall cause a census or enumeration of the
inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and districts of
the territory to be taken by such persons, and in such mode as the governor
shall designate and appoint; and the persons so appointed shall receive a
reasonable compensation therefor; and the first election shall be held at
such time and places, and be conducted in such manner, both as to the person
who shall superintend such election, and the returns thereof, as the
governor shall appoint and direct; and he shall, at the same time, declare
the number of members of the council and house of representatives to which
each of the counties or districts shall be entitled under this act; and the
governor shall, by his proclamation, give at least sixty days previous
notice of such apportionment, and of the time, places, and manner of holding
such election. The persons having the highest number of legal votes in each
of said council districts for members of the council shall be declared by
the governor to be duly elected to the council; and the persons having the
highest number of legal votes for the house of representatives shall be
declared by the governor to be duly elected members of said house; Provided,
That, in case two or more persons voted for shall have an equal number of
votes and in case a vacancy shall otherwise occur, in either branch of the
legislative assembly, the governor shall order a new election, and the
persons thus elected to the legislative assembly shall meet at such place,
and on such day, within ninety days after such elections, as the governor
shall appoint; but, thereafter, the time, place, and manner of holding and
conducting all elections by the people, and the apportioning the
representation in the several counties or districts to the council and house
of representatives, according to the number of qualified voters, shall be
prescribed by law, as well as the day of the commencement of the regular
sessions of the legislative assembly: Provided, That no session in any one
year shall exceed the term of sixty days, except the first session, which
shall not be prolonged beyond one hundred days.
5.-Sect, 5. Every white male inhabitant, above the age of twenty-one
years, who shall have been a resident of said territory at the time of the
passage of this act, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter
prescribed, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be
eligible to any office within the said territory; but the qualifications of
voters and of holding office, at all subsequent elections, shall be such as
shall be prescribed by the legislative assembly: Provided, That the right of
suffrage and of holding office shall be exercised only by citizens United
States above the age of twenty-one years, and those above that age who shall
have declared, on oath, their intention to become such, and shall have taken
an oath to support the constitution of the United States, and the provisions
of this act: And, further, provided, That no officer, soldier, seaman, or
marine, or other person in the army or navy of the United States, or
attached to troop's in the service of the United States, shall be allowed to
vote in said territory, by reason of being on service therein, unless said
territory is and has been for the period of six months, his permanent
domicil: Provided, further, That no person belonging to the army or navy of
the United States shall ever be elected to, or hold any civil office or
appointment in, said territory.
6.-Sect. 6. The legislative power of the territory shall extend to
all rightful subjects of legislation not inconsistent with the constitution
and laws of the United States; but no law shall be passed interfering with
the primary disposal of the soil; no tar shall be imposed upon the property
of the United States; nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents
be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents. All the laws
passed by the legislative assembly shall be submitted to the congress of the
United States, and, if disapproved, shall be null and of no effect:
Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to give power to
incorporate a bank, or any institution with banking powers, or to borrow
money in the name of the territory, or to pledge the faith of the people of
the same for any loan whatever, either directly or indirectly. No charter
granting any privilege of making, issuing, or putting into circulation any
notes or bills in the likeness of bank notes, or any bonds scrip, drafts,
bills of exchange, or obligations, or granting any other banking powers or
privileges, shall be passed by the legislative assembly; nor shall the
establishment of any branch or agency of any such corporation, derived from
other authority, be allowed in said territory; nor shall said legislative
assembly authorize the issue of any obligation, scrip, or evidence of debt
by said territory, in any mode or manner whatever, except certificates for
services to said territory; and all such laws, or any law or laws
inconsistent with the provisions of this act, shall be utterly null and
void; and all taxes shall be equal and uniform and no distinction shall be
made in the assessments between different kinds of property, but the
assessments shall be according to the value thereof. To avoid improper
influences which may result from intermixing in one and the same act, such
things as have no proper relation to each other, every law shall embrace but
one object and that shall be expressed in the title.
7.-Sect. 7. All township, district, and county, officers, not herein
otherwise provided for, shall be appointed or elected, in such manner as
shall be provided by the legislative assembly of the territory of Oregon.
8.-Sect. 8. No member of the legislative assembly shall hold, or be
appointed to, any office which shall have been created, or the salary or
emoluments of which shall have been increased, while he was a member, during
the term for which he was elected, and for one year after the expiration of
such term; but this restriction shall not be applicable to members of the
first legislative assembly; and no person holding a commission, or
appointment under the United States shall be a member of the legislative
assembly, or shall hold any office under the government of said territory.
9. The 16th section of the act authorizes the qualified voters to elect
a delegate to the house of representatives of the United States, who shall
have and exercise all the rights and privileges as have been heretofore
exercised and enjoyed by the delegates from the other territories of the
United States to the said house of representatives. Vide Courts of the
United States.

A front-page article in The Oregonian described the event: `Part revival meeting, part reunion, the ceremony rung with cheers and standing ovations as leader after leader talked about a past of injustice and a future of hope.

The promise, called PathwayOregon, guarantees that qualified Oregonians from lower income families can attend the UO tuition free by covering any remaining tuition costs not picked up by federal and state financial aid.

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